


Saturday Morning, 7 AM

by Golden_Dreams



Category: Disney Duck Universe, DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Adventure, Affection, DISC, Family, Gen, Mystery, treasure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-24 22:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18170456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Golden_Dreams/pseuds/Golden_Dreams
Summary: The trip to the talisman!





	1. Chapter 1

Saturday Morning, 7 AM; Scrooge McDuck’s alarm was going off. Due to his incredible age, as well as a lifetime of working, travelling, and adventuring at all hours of the day, his circadian rhythms were very much disrupted. He wished he could reliably wake up on time without an alarm, it struck him as a small failure, but it was something he had to do. He got up, yawned, stretched, and got out of bed, ready to get dressed and pack up for the day’s adventure. As he was changing out of his nightshirt and one of his many nearly identical red and black broadcloth coats, however, he couldn’t help but get a strange sense of deja vu. The thought quickly left his mind, however. 

 

_ “I’ve been all over the world, to thousands of caves hiding treasure, of course I feel like I’ve done this before! I probably have!”  _ Scrooge thought to himself as he retrieved a top hat and cane from his closet, and headed downstairs to brief his family on the journey they were about to embark on. 

 

“Gather ‘round, kids!” Scrooge said as his nephew, grandnephews, and grandniece all convened in his office, sat around his desk, which had a large map and a few photographs on it. “Today, we’re headed to Florida in search of the Lorentz talisman, which is said to be hidden somewhere in the aptly-named Mystery Cave.” Scrooge said, putting a dramatic air of enigma into his voice. 

 

“Why is it aptly-named?” Huey asked, ready to pull out his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook and fact-check his uncle. 

 

“Because, laddie, no one has ever found the talisman. It’s not known what powers it may hold; in fact, it’s a mystery if it exists at all!” Scrooge said, the excitement dripping from his words.

 

“Great. So we’re headed across the country for a treasure that might not even exist?” Louie smirked, ready to pull out his phone.

 

“The possibility is enough for me, Louie. Besides, I love spending time with you all on these adventures!” Scrooge responded warmly. Even if they didn’t find anything, Scrooge figured he had enough treasure to let a single talisman slip through the cracks. He was more in it for spending time with his family, and making up for the lost time after the Spear of Selene. “Donald, do you have our spelunking supplies?” Scrooge turned to his nephew, having given him a wad of cash with the responsibility of getting caving gear for this expedition.

 

“Right here, uncle!” Donald replied as he patted the large duffel bag next to his feet. Inside were six sets of spelunking gear, including helmets, headlamps, harnesses, and boots. Donald had also purchased two additional bags for himself and Scrooge for carrying first aid materials and snacks. Donald didn’t mind the kids going on adventures like this with his uncle as long as he was also there doting on them; not that the kids minded either, God knows they loved their Uncle Donald. 

 

“Alright, my boy! I think we’re all set. Launchpad’s got the plane ready to go outside. Everyone who needs to go to the bathroom, go  **now** !” Scrooge instructed. “I do  _ not _ want to hear it on the way there.” He said as he packed up the map and the photographs and stored them securely in his coat pocket. 

 

“You can just say my name next time!” Dewey yelled back as he ran to the nearest bathroom. He had a habit of ignoring his bodily urges while the family was still at the mansion, opting instead to pay attention when they were on the Sunchaser, where there was no restroom. 

 

“It was a general suggestion, Dewey!” Scrooge yelled back, trying to sound as serious as possible to maintain the banter, but failing to hide his smile in his voice. 

 

On the plane, Huey had been searching through his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, trying to find any information he could about the Lorentz talisman, but he kept coming up short. 

 

“Uncle Scrooge? Are you sure this thing exists?” Huey asked, as his uncle came over to him. “The Junior Woodchuck Guidebook doesn’t have any information on it, and it always has something about whatever treasure we’re looking for.” 

 

“Och, Huey, you can’t rely on that book for everything! I’ve heard enough about it over the years, but no one has told me anything about it. Not even Goldie, who’s just about as treasure-hungry as I am, but she’d probably die before she actually helped me find treasure.” Scrooge admitted with a laugh as he put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. 

 

“Sometimes, what you have to do is just go and see for yourself. I wouldn’t have become the man I am if I only believed what people told me”, he continued, giving Huey’s shoulder a slight squeeze. He didn’t want his nephew to think he was putting him down. “Don’t get me wrong, knowledge is incredibly valuable, but it’s not everything. We’ll find out for ourselves about the treasure, and you can write the entry in the Guidebook about it. Deal?” Scrooge said, and with that he saw Huey’s eyes light up.

 

“Alright!” Huey agreed enthusiastically. 

 

“That’s the spirit!” Scrooge responded, as he checked his watch and turned to address the rest of his family.

 

“Thirty minutes until we arrive, everyone!” he informed, as Louie let out a bored groan. His phone could only entertain him for so long. The other kids, by contrast, could barely contain themselves. Dewey and Webby were bouncing up and down in their seats, trying to match the rhythm with each other, while Huey, pen in hand, was looking for a spot in his already heavily addended Junior Woodchuck Guidebook to squeeze in some information about this unknown new treasure. Donald and Scrooge watched them all from the cockpit, so proud of the little ones. Adventure truly was in their blood.

 

After the plane landed and everyone had geared up inside, Scrooge insisted Launchpad wait outside for them as a safety precaution, in case they got lost or needed help. Everyone had their own walkie-talkie, and Scrooge had used his own money to purchase their own family frequency range; Gyro also added an encryption system to the devices, ensuring no one would interrupt their communications. Scrooge and the family gathered around the mouth of the cave, the humid Florida air causing the surroundings to appear slightly blurry, like everyone had tears in their eyes. 

 

“Alright, everyone. Who’s ready to solve this mystery!?” Scrooge said as he rallied his family. As a pleasant surprise to Scrooge, every one of the kids, as well as Donald, seemed as enthusiastic about this trip as he was. It doesn’t always work out this way, but when his family is happy, Scrooge is most certainly happy. 

 

_ “Going on adventures, exploring the unexplored, all with my family? It doesn’t get better than this.”  _ Scrooge smiled to himself, as he brought up the rear of the group as Donald led the way. He’d learned from past adventures never to let the children be behind an adult and completely out of sight. He also let Donald lead, and take some initiative in the adventures. He never wanted Donald to feel left out like he used to ever again. 

 

“You’re not usually this rearing-to-go, Louie! The adventure bug finally got ya, eh?” Scrooge said playfully, nudging the green-themed triplet’s shoulder. 

 

“I wouldn’t say  _ that _ , Uncle Scrooge, but I  _ am _ really excited for this one!” Louie responded with a chuckle. It warmed Scrooge’s heart to see everyone so happy.

 

They had been in the cave for not five minutes, when Donald called back to his uncle, who had been busy talking to Louie.

 

“Uncle Scrooge, look at  **this** !” he said with confusion in his voice, pointing up to a fork in the tunnel system. The sunlight from the mouth of the cave was gone by now, and every family member had their headlamp on. As Scrooge looked up, he wasn’t sure what the fuss was about. He was about to tell Donald that, as the frontrunner, he should decide which path they went down, when the words stopped in their tracks in his throat. As Scrooge’s eyes followed to where his nephew’s finger was pointing, he realized that curiously, the right path had, carved on the pseudo-archway, the words: “TO THE TREASURE”, with a little arrow indicating the path. The sight was so odd and unprecedented, no one noticed Huey was just getting up off the ground, having bumped into Donald after he abruptly stopped, and fallen on his rear.

 

“Easy, lad.” Scrooge warned as he approached the entrance to the rightmost path, trying to use his headlamp to see down it. However, it wasn’t a short path, and the light quickly died as the darkness stretched onward. “I can’t help but think this might be a trap.” Scrooge said has he backed away. 

 

“So? We’ve survived hundreds of traps by now, how bad could it be?!” Webby said, barely containing her excitement at the thought of possible death via spike pit, or something similar. 

 

“Let’s...just go down the other path to see what’s down there. Then maybe we’ll come back to this one.” he advised nervously. Donald proceeded down the leftmost path, and the kids followed, much to Dewey and Webby’s disappointment. They  _ really _ wanted to get caught in a trap. As the kids chatted amongst themselves about what the treasure could possibly be, Scrooge was lost in thought. In all his years of adventuring, he’d never encountered a cave system this...simple. Especially one purported to contain treasure, and now, for the only deviation from a straight line to be made in the form of a simple two-way fork, with one path literally pointing to the treasure...it didn’t make any sense, and Scrooge wasn’t about to take any chances with his family’s safety. 

 

“Uncle!” Donald yelled from the front of the pack, jolting Scrooge from his thoughts. 

 

“What is-” Scrooge asked, only to fall silent when he looked up, his eyes met with a complete dead end. The wall marking the dead end was oddly...flat. It was of the same rocky composition as the rest of the cave, but it didn’t have the same jagged quality cave walls typically have. It almost looked groomed. 

 

“There’s probably a mechanism to get this wall up somewhere, everyone look around!” Scrooge commanded as his family and himself scoured the immediate area for a clue. Anything, be it a hidden button, or text carved into the wall, but everyone came up short. 

 

“Uncle Scrooge, can we  **please** go to the treasure path with the booby traps now?” Dewey asked, pulling on Scrooge’s coat. Before he knew it, Webby was on the other side of him, pulling on the other side of his coat. It would make his heart swell with pride, as they both resembled Della so much, if he wasn’t so uneasy about the whole situation. 

 

“No, Dewey! I don’t want you getting hurt!” Donald scolded. “If we can’t find anything at this dead end, we might as well just leave.”

 

“Nonsense, nephew! There’s no guarantee there’s a trap there, maybe it’s all part of the psychological game of whoever hid the treasure here!” Scrooge argued. “Besides, Launchpad always has our back. Right Launchpad?” Scrooge spoke into his walkie-talkie, trying to prove his point.

 

“You betcha, Mister McDee!” Launchpad cheerfully replied. 

 

“See, Donald, there’s  _ nothing _ to worry about!” Scrooge ensured, and Donald with a hum of stubborn acceptance began to lead the family back down the path to the fork. They instead took the rightmost path this time.

 

“Be careful everyone, we do  _ not _ know what’s in here.” Scrooge said cautiously, as the family’s walking speed decreased by 25%. As the kids continued their conversation, Scrooge surveyed their surroundings. Much to his surprise, there was not a single thing amiss, except for the aforementioned carving. He was expecting at least  _ something _ to change, but they were surrounded by the same uniform rock as the entire cave seemed to be made of. Scrooge noticed they were on a slight decline, as they continued to walk down the path, but he figured that made sense. It was a cave, after all. It was only around a minute or two of walking, that they reached another archway at the end of the path, leading to a single circular room, with a pedestal in the middle, and what appeared to be a solid gold disc with a large gem in the middle, appearing to Scrooge to be a pearl, attached to a black string. There wasn’t much fancy presentation, it was simply sitting on the pedestal, which looked to be made out of imitation marble. At the sight of this, all the kids roared in excitement. Scrooge himself was happy to see there may be some fruit to their labor, but was petrified of what possible deterrents could be. 

 

“Wait, kids, let Donald lead us all in. Do not rush.” Scrooge warned, as Donald took his cue and began very slowly walking into the chamber, family in tow. As they approached the pedestal, they all expected something to happen. A sound, a vibration, anything to indicate there was an opposition to their presence, but...nothing. The disc didn’t seem to be attached to the pedestal, so that ruled out the possibility of it acting as a type of key, or safeguard against a trap. It also didn’t seem to be contributing much to the weight of the pedestal, as it was not sunk into the ground, leading Scrooge to believe picking it up wouldn’t actually do anything. 

 

“Okay, it looks safe. Huey, I think you should take it.” Scrooge said, after having checked the pedestal for all the common traps he could think of. It was customary that, on these adventures, Scrooge would allow one of the children to take the treasure in question and carry it to the plane; typically the child who would do this would be one who showed the most interest, asked the most questions, brought the idea up, or in this case, questioned the treasure.

 

“Why me? I didn’t even think it existed! Let someone else take it.” Huey argued.

 

“I won’t force you to, lad, but now you see that it’s real! I don’t blame you for doubting it, but I want you to have it, to remind you that sometimes...you just need to experience things for yourself.” Scrooge responded, warmly smiling at Huey. 

 

“...Okay, I will.” Huey confirmed, smiling back at his uncle, as he cautiously picked up the disc off the pedestal with his thumb and pointer finger only, like he was handling something revolting. Everyone braced themselves, and got ready to run, but nothing happened. They all stood still, staring at the pitch-black path they came in through, ready to sprint for the plane. Nothing. 

 

“Hopefully we’re in the clear kids, but let’s get out of here. Slowly.” Scrooge said. After a few minutes of standing completely still, everyone’s muscles were happy to relax. As they slowly began creeping away from the pedestal, the family began to look around the room, trying to look for any possible dangers. Any ceiling spikes, trap doors that might open over them, anything that could cause his family harm, Scrooge was on the lookout for, but he didn’t find anything, and neither did anyone else. As they got close to the opening to the path back to the plane, however Huey called out from the back of the pack, next to his great-uncle. 

 

“Wait! I think I see some writing up here!” Huey said, as his family turned around and gathered with him to shine their headlamps above the opening to get a better view. The markings were small and hard to see, not to mention shallowly carved into the rock, but it was unmistakable: someone had clearly written a message. The height it was at indicated the author was much taller than any of the McDuck clan’s members. 

 

“Did Launchpad write this? He’s the only person I know who’s that tall!” Dewey said, with a goofy expression on his face. He was always one to try to lighten the mood, as it definitely made him uncomfortable how serious everyone seemed as they tried to read the message. 

 

“Can you read it, lad? Even with my spectacles, I can’t make it out!” Scrooge asked Huey, squinting in the dark. 

 

“I think it says…’the disc resets time’?” 

 

The instant the words left Huey’s mouth, a sharp metallic sound reverberated throughout the cave quickly, and then was gone. Scrooge’s blood ran cold. There was only one thing that could mean. This message  _ was _ the trap. 

 

An incredibly strong wind suddenly blew through the cave, knocking the family against the back wall. Scrooge and Donald tried frantically to break free of the force, to shield the children from the wind, but they only managed to scoot on top of the kids, still tightly packed against the wall. 

 

“What do we do now, Uncle Scrooge?!” Huey screamed, tears running down his face. “I’m sorry for reading the message!” he said, trying his best to avoid sobbing and help figure out how to escape. 

 

“You didn’t know, Huey! It’s not your fault!” Scrooge yelled back, grabbing Huey’s trembling hand, and making small circles with his thumb to try to comfort him, a fool’s errand. Huey’s hand felt slightly wet to Scrooge, but he couldn’t turn around at all, so there was no way to tell what it was, and now was not the time to ask. Not much else could comfort Huey now, as his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, the item that represented knowledge and gave Huey hope in times like this had been blown off his head by the wind, along with his hat, was now pushed up against a perpendicular side of the room. Only that and the presence of his family were keys to Huey’s security, and one of those was missing. The book, however, didn’t look nearly as strapped-down with force as the family, which gave Scrooge an idea. 

 

“Listen up, everyone! If we can get out of the path of the opening maybe the wind will ease off! It’s coming from the path!” Scrooge said to everyone, which was a fine idea, if any of them could move their center of mass. They all began trying desperately to inch their bodies closer and closer to the perpendicular sides of the chamber, with barely any results. Out of the corner of his eye, Scrooge noticed that Donald had stopped moving. Not taking a break from trying to escape, but frozen completely still. He looked over and Donald was, indeed, frozen. It was as if someone had put him on pause. 

 

“Donald!” Scrooge screamed as the wind continued at its brutal speed and intensity, reaching out for his nephew’s hand with the one Huey wasn’t currently squeezing as hard as he possibly could. It was then Scrooge noticed that Donald was shrinking. Approximately two cubic inches per second, Donald’s body was simply downsizing. Once the kids noticed, they all started screaming as well. To the family’s dismay, as he got smaller, the rate at which he did so increased. All the kids were trying to grab onto him as best as they could, but their fingers simply passed through him. As he vanished into nothing, everyone was sobbing, their tears flying everywhere and splattering the wall behind them, thanks to the wind. No one even noticed that Louie had frozen in place as well. 

 

“Uncle Scrooge! Louie’s not moving!” Dewey managed to choke out while still crying hysterically. Scrooge tried to reach for him, but he simply couldn’t overcome the force of the wind, and he too shrunk to nothing. 

 

“What are we going to do?!” Huey screamed gripping onto Scrooge’s hand harder than he’s ever held anything in his life. 

 

“We...have to get out of the wind!” Scrooge replied as he kept trying to move, but the wind had only picked up in intensity at this point. They could barely open their mouths. As if sensing what was going to happen to him, Scrooge addressed the children.

 

“Kids...I’m sorry for bringing you out here. If we don’t make it out, I just want you to know that I love you all, spending time with you made the for best experiences of my life. Webbigail!” Scrooge turned to her, prepared to say his goodbyes, to tell her she was as much of his niece as the boys were his nephews, and she truly was part of their family, when he realized she was indeed shrinking.

 

“Webby…” Scrooge said gravely, tears flowing down his face. The wind only picked up now, and none of the remaining family could open their eyes, let alone their mouths or move any limb. Huey was trembling, holding onto the hands of both Scrooge and Dewey with his hands. Even though he couldn’t see it, he could feel it. He felt Dewey’s hand change, as if he was suddenly holding the hand of a mannequin. His eyes unable to open, his mouth unable to scream, Huey just sat and trembled as he felt his brother fade into nothing. And then his uncle.

 

And then himself. 


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trip to the talisman!

Saturday Morning, 7 AM; Huey Duck awoke in his bed. Due to his still-young mind, his circadian rhythms were working at peak performance, and he’d trained himself to reliably wake up on time without an alarm; Huey considered this a small victory. He sat up, yawned, stretched, and got out of bed, ready to get dressed and pack up for the day’s adventure. As he was changing out of his pajamas and into one of his many nearly identical red polo shirts and caps, however, he couldn’t help but get a strange sense of deja vu, one that he couldn’t explain.

 

_ “This feels weird...obviously I’ve woken up on plenty of Saturday’s at 7 AM, but this feels...too exact.” _ Huey thought to himself as he brushed his teeth. When he gripped his toothbrush, he noticed that he had some scraping on the palm of his hand, and it was bleeding a little. 

 

_ “How did I get scraped? Did I do it in my sleep? I don’t remember getting it…” _ Huey thought, but he figured he had gotten it the previous day, while him and the rest of the kids were playing around outside until late at night. After brushing his teeth, Huey woke up his brothers, who weren’t early birds (ducks?) like he was, and once they were all ready, they headed to Scrooge’s office to discuss the day’s trip. 

 

“Gather ‘round, kids!” Scrooge said as his nephew, grandnephews, and grandniece all convened in his office, sat around his desk, which had a large map and a few photographs on it. “Today, we’re headed to Florida in search of the Lorentz talisman, which is said to be hidden somewhere in the aptly-named Mystery Cave.” Scrooge said, putting a dramatic air of enigma into his voice. 

 

“Why is it aptly-named?” Huey asked, ready to pull out his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook and fact-check his uncle. For some reason, he felt internally surprised when he pulled it out from under his hat, as if he hadn’t expected for it to be there. Looking through it, Huey found it odd that no record of this artifact existed anywhere, when even mythical creatures, which Huey had seen with his own two eyes from adventures with his uncle, were catalogued in the Guidebook. He kept looking through as Scrooge and the others kept talking, once-over, twice-over, to see if he missed it, but there was nothing. 

 

“Everyone who needs to go to the bathroom, go  **now** !” Scrooge instructed. “I do  _ not _ want to hear it on the way there.” He said as he packed up the map and the photographs and stored them securely in his coat pocket. 

 

Huey was pulled from his concentration by the sound of his Scrooge yelling, and his brothers scampering from the room. He was excited for another adventure with his family, but something felt different this time.

 

On the plane, Huey continued searching through his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, trying to find any information he could about the Lorentz talisman, but he kept coming up short. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about this trip gave him a bad feeling.

 

“Uncle Scrooge? Are you sure this thing exists?” Huey asked, as his uncle came over to him. “The Junior Woodchuck Guidebook doesn’t have  **any** information on it, and it always has something about whatever treasure we’re looking for.” 

 

“Och, Huey, you can’t rely on that book for everything! I’ve heard enough about it over the years, but no one has told me anything about it. Not even Goldie, who’s just about as treasure-hungry as I am, but she’d probably die before she actually helped me find treasure.” Scrooge admitted with a laugh as he put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Huey would beg to differ, but the sick feeling in his stomach acted as a deterrent; he just didn’t feel like arguing.

 

“Sometimes, what you have to do is just go and see for yourself. I wouldn’t have become the man I am if I only believed what people told me”, he continued, giving Huey’s shoulder a slight squeeze. He didn’t want his nephew to think he was putting him down. “Don’t get me wrong, knowledge is incredibly valuable, but it’s not everything. We’ll find out for ourselves about the treasure, and you can write the entry in the Guidebook about it. Deal?” Scrooge said, and with that he saw Huey’s eyes light up.

 

“Alright!” Huey agreed, mustering as much enthusiasm as possible. At least if it wasn’t in there, he could be the one to add it. The idea alone thrilled him.

 

“That’s the spirit!” Scrooge responded, as he checked his watch and turned to address the rest of his family.

 

“Thirty minutes until we arrive, everyone!” he informed. Huey, pen in hand, was looking for a spot in his already heavily addended Junior Woodchuck Guidebook to squeeze in some information about this unknown new treasure. 

 

_ “Maybe he’s right, maybe this doesn’t have all the answers.”  _ Huey said, as he looked for any small bit of free space where he could fit in a new entry about the Lorentz talisman. 

 

Donald and Scrooge watched them all from the cockpit, so proud of the little ones. Adventure truly was in their blood.

 

“Alright, everyone. Who’s ready to solve this mystery!?” Scrooge said as he rallied his family around the mouth of the cave. Scrooge was happy; every one of the kids, as well as Donald, seemed as enthusiastic about this trip as he was. In reality, however, Huey’s mood was dampened by a peculiar sense of deja vu. The duckling stayed quiet through the initial walk through the cave, as he was absolutely  _ certain _ they had been there before. He was praying he was wrong, because if he was right, he had no idea what that could mean. He tried to calm himself, and tested his theory. He tried to predict, by memory, what the next change in the tunnel layout would be. He remembered a split in the tunnel system, with something suspicious about one of the paths. Was it lit up inside? Were there the sounds of wild animals or hostile creatures emanating from one of the paths? Why couldn’t he remember? He was concentrating with a focus that insulated him effectively from the rest of his family, his legs pressing forward in a robotic fashion. He was walking so closely behind Donald, he didn’t notice when his father figure stopped dead in his tracks, and almost bumped into him.

 

“Uncle Scrooge, look at  **this** !” Donald said with confusion in his voice, pointing up to a fork in the tunnel system. The sunlight from the mouth of the cave was gone by now, and every family member had their headlamp on. As Huey’s eyes followed to where his uncle’s finger was pointing, he realized that curiously, the right path had, carved on the pseudo-archway, the words: “TO THE TREASURE”, with a little arrow indicating the path. 

 

Just as Huey had feared. There was something  _ not _ right at all here. He felt something bad was going to happen, but he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. He didn’t have the facts to back up his emotional response; he felt like he had no ground to stand on here. Thankfully his family decided to go down the other path. Unfortunately, this fared equally poorly, as they came to a dead end. The wall marking the dead end was oddly...flat. It was of the same rocky composition as the rest of the cave, but it didn’t have the same jagged quality cave walls typically have. Usually, dead ends like this weren’t really dead ends, merely hiding something. The only way these were accessible was usually to find some hidden button or switch, but the family wasn’t able to find a single hint. Huey half-heartedly searched, somehow knowing they wouldn’t find anything. He could hear Dewey and Webby begging their Uncle Scrooge to face the possible danger of the “treasure path” head-on, and the sick feeling in his stomach persisted. His Uncle Donald tried to get the family to leave, which Huey was all for, but Scrooge shot that down quickly.

 

“Nonsense, nephew! There’s no guarantee there’s a trap there, maybe it’s all part of the psychological game of whoever hid the treasure here!” Scrooge argued. “Besides, Launchpad always has our back. Right Launchpad?” Scrooge spoke into his walkie-talkie, trying to prove his point.

 

“You betcha, Mister McDee!” Launchpad cheerfully replied. 

 

“See, Donald, there’s  _ nothing _ to worry about!” Scrooge ensured, and Donald with a hum of stubborn acceptance began to lead the family back down the path to the fork. They instead took the rightmost path this time, and Huey’s anxiety only got worse.

 

“Be careful everyone, we do  _ not _ know what’s in here.” Scrooge said cautiously, as the family’s walking speed decreased by 25%. It was strange to Huey how, for being a tunnel leading to a supposedly secret treasure, nothing looked out of the ordinary, but it put his mind at peace a little bit. It was only a very short time walking, that they reached another archway at the end of the path, leading to a single circular room, with a pedestal in the middle, and what appeared to be a solid gold disc with a large gem in the middle, appearing to Huey to be a pearl, attached to a black string. Huey was expecting something...bigger? It seemed very nonchalant, as if someone had been in a hurry when designing the treasure room of their abandoned cave system, and just included no bells or whistles, opting for a plain presentation. Huey could have sworn he’d seen the disc before though…

 

_ “It probably just looks like one of my Junior Woodchuck merit badges!” _ Huey thought to himself, his brain trying desperately to make sense of the situation. He was glad his uncles were in charge, however. He entirely trusted them to keep him safe.

 

“Wait, kids, let Donald lead us all in. Do not rush.” Scrooge warned, as Donald took his cue and began very slowly walking into the chamber, family in tow. Huey’s heart became lighter after nothing had happened while approaching the pedestal, and he was trying to regulate his breathing and calm his mind while Scrooge checked the pedestal for traps.

 

“Okay, it looks safe. Huey, I think you should take it.” Scrooge said, once again bringing Huey out of his state of deep thinking.

 

“Why me? I didn’t even think it existed! Let someone else take it.” Huey argued. He wasn’t sure what it was, but something about that disc made him uncomfortable. It was probably just him, though, so he’d figure he’d let one of his brothers have it. Right?

 

“I won’t force you to, lad, but now you see that it’s real! I don’t blame you for doubting it, but I want you to have it, to remind you that sometimes...you just need to experience things for yourself.” Scrooge responded warmly. What could he say? Huey was an affectionate boy, who thrived on the love of his family. All the fear in his heart had cleared, and it was replaced by his uncle’s resolution. 

 

“...Okay, I will.” Huey confirmed, smiling back at his uncle, as he cautiously picked up the disc off the pedestal with his thumb and pointer finger only. He felt uncomfortable with the idea of holding the disc with his entire hand, or even most of his fingers. He wanted as little contact with it as possible.

 

“Hopefully we’re in the clear kids, but let’s get out of here. Slowly.” Scrooge said. After a few minutes of standing completely still, everyone’s muscles were happy to relax. Huey, now in the back of the pack next to Scrooge, had turned and was now inching along to the opening with the rest of his family. However, the glint of something above the opening reflected across his headlamp, and upon closer inspection, it looked to Huey like letters carved into the rock.

 

“Wait! I think I see some writing up here!” Huey said, as his family turned around and gathered with him to shine their headlamps above the opening to get a better view. The writing was very small, but Huey definitely could see the letters individually. He felt a burning desire to know what it said, and squinted hard to make the letters out.

 

“Can you read it, lad? Even with my spectacles, I can’t make it out!” Scrooge asked Huey, squinting in the dark. 

 

Huey decided to read out the letters. “I think it says…’the disc resets time’?” 

 

The instant the words left Huey’s mouth, a sharp metallic sound reverberated throughout the cave quickly, and then was gone. Huey’s blood ran cold. There was only one thing that could mean. This message  _ was _ the trap. What had he done?

 

An incredibly strong wind suddenly blew through the cave, knocking the family against the back wall. Desperate to have as much information against their current predicament as possible, Huey held onto his hat, and managed to keep the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook under it from being blown off his head. 

 

“What do we do now, Uncle Scrooge?!” Huey screamed, tears running down his face. “I’m sorry for reading the message!” he said, trying his best to avoid sobbing and help figure out how to escape. 

 

“You didn’t know, Huey! It’s not your fault!” Scrooge yelled back, grabbing Huey’s trembling hand, and making small circles with his thumb to try to comfort him, a fool’s errand. Huey winced as Scrooge unknowingly made contact with the wound in the palm; it wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t see Huey anyway. That was when Huey noticed, in the far corner of the room, two odd shapes of objects pushed against the wall by the wind. He was unable to move his head and aim his headlamp at the objects, but after Scrooge briefly shined his headlamp light over the objects, he realized it was his hat and the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook he keeps under it.

 

 _“That’s weird, I thought I-”_ Huey’s thought process froze as he recognized the light pressure on the top of his head; he still had his hat on, and the Guidebook was still under it. Why were they over there, and on his head at the same time? What was going on? _Had_ he been here before? 

 

“Listen up, everyone! If we can get out of the path of the opening maybe the wind will ease off! It’s coming from the path!” Scrooge said to everyone, but Huey was far too busy thinking to do anything.

 

_ “The wind started when we read the message...maybe we can’t read the message! I have to write it down, so we don’t forget if time gets reset!”  _ Huey thought frantically to himself, as he used every last bit of his strength to bring his hand to his own shirt pocket, grabbing the trusty black pen he took with him everywhere for writing new information in the Guidebook. Even with all of his strength, however, he was not able to shift his body to write on himself. He had to do the next best thing, and write on the closest surface that might work: the back of Scrooge’s neck, which was positioned right in front of Huey’s face. With all his might, Huey used the pen to scrawl the message “DON’T LOOK UP TALISMAN RESETS TIME” into his uncle’s neck. He barely even noticed his family was disappearing next to him. As Huey figured has happened before at least once, Scrooge addressed himself and his siblings.

 

“Kids...I’m sorry for bringing you out here. If we don’t make it out, I just want you to know that I love you all, spending time with you made for the best experiences of my life. Webbigail!” Huey would have cried at the sentimentality; he was always one to bend at even the slightest hint of affection, but now, he was determined. He was angry. He was going to get revenge on this stupid disc for the grief it had put his family through, even if he didn’t remember it.


	3. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trip to the talisman!

Saturday Morning, 7:05 AM; Louie Duck awoke in his bed, to the sensation of his eldest brother shaking him awake enthusiastically. Despite his still-young mind, Louie’s circadian rhythms weren’t working so great, and he usually couldn’t wake up on time without an alarm. This didn’t bother Louie though, as he usually slept very well in spite of this. He groggily sat up, yawned, stretched, and got out of bed, ready to get dressed and pack up for the day’s adventure. As he was changing out of his pajamas and into one of his many nearly identical green hoodies, however, he couldn’t help but get a strange sense of deja vu, one that he couldn’t explain.

 

_ “I probably had a weird dream or something that I can’t remember.” _ Louie thought to himself as he brushed his teeth, fighting with Dewey over who got to look at themselves in the bathroom mirror, as it wasn’t wide enough for them both to fit. Once they had finished up, Dewey raced to Scrooge’s office, while Louie took off at a leisurely pace. He had no reason to rush, nowhere to get to so soon. He’d be there eventually.

 

“Gather ‘round, kids!” Scrooge said, cup of tea in hand, as his nephew, grandnephews, and grandniece all convened in his office, sat around his desk, which had a large map and a few photographs on it. “Today, we’re headed to Florida in search of the Lorentz talisman, which is said to be hidden somewhere in the aptly-named Mystery Cave.” Scrooge said, putting a dramatic air of enigma into his voice. 

 

“Why is it aptly-named?” Huey asked, ready to pull out his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook and fact-check his uncle. 

 

“Because, laddie, no one has ever found the talisman. It’s not known what powers it may hold; in fact, it’s a mystery if it exists at all!” Scrooge said, the excitement dripping from his words.

 

“Great. So we’re headed across the country for a treasure that might not even exist?” Louie smirked, ready to pull out his phone. He couldn’t stand it when they went on adventures without treasure. It seemed like a chore to him; if there’s no reward, what’s the point? Possibly dying for the fun of it?

 

“The possibility is enough for me, Louie. Besides, I love spending time with you all on these adventures!” Scrooge responded warmly. That was one thing Louie was secretly happy about. Underneath the exterior of sarcasm and apathy, he really did enjoy spending time with his family, especially Scrooge, who he looked up to more than anyone else in the world. As Scrooge turned to address Donald, Louie noticed that there was a dark spot on his uncle’s neck, just above the collar of his coat, and matching its black coloring.

  
  


“Uncle Scrooge, there’s some weird gunk on the back of your neck.” Louie said.

 

“Where? What is it?” Scrooge said as he walked backwards towards Louie as they all crowded around to take a look.

 

“It looks like words…” Louie said as Scrooge approached him, standing up on his toes to try to get the best look possible.

 

“It  _ is _ words, it says ‘don’t look up, talisman resets time’.” Louie was about to ask why his uncle had this written on his neck, when a sharp metallic sound reverberated throughout the mansion quickly, and then was gone. Everyone was confused. Was Beakley dealing with intruders elsewhere in the house? Had Launchpad crashed the Sunchaser already? 

 

“Beakley! Is everythi-” Scrooge began to call out, but an incredibly strong wind suddenly blew through the house, knocking the family against one of the walls, and causing Scrooge’s cup of tea to fly out of his hand, spilling some tea on the top of his head as it flew towards the corner of the room and smashed into bits. Donald tried frantically to break free of the force, to shield the children from the wind, he they only managed to scoot on top of Dewey and Webby, still tightly packed against the wall. Scrooge was already on top of Louie, facing away from him.

 

_ “This wind is crazy! It started when I read the words...why were they on his neck?”  _ Louie frantically wondered, as he tried to make sense of the situation. Here he was, pinned to a wall by hurricane force winds in his own house, after reading six words? Now that Scrooge was in front of him, held tight by the force of the wind, he could look at the words better. The writing certainly looked familiar.

 

_ “This is Huey’s handwriting! But why would Huey have wrote this?? As a prank?!”  _ Louie thought to himself. He had received homework help from his brother many times in the past, and had gotten accustomed to seeing his handwriting style: neat, but slightly trying too hard to look perfect. It was very distinct. However, the idea of time resetting reminded Louie of something he’d seen in the past.

 

_ “I remember that YouTube video...the one about time loops...people would write on themselves to know they’re stuck in one, and if this talisman resets time, we might be stuck in one right now and not know it!”  _ Louie reasoned, using all his strength to pull his phone out of his hoodie pocket.  _ “I’ve gotta take a picture so we all know!” _ As the force of the wind grew stronger and stronger, Louie noticed his family disappearing beside him. He resolved to be resilient, and not grieve now, even though tears were running down his face, and his hands and arms were trembling in fear. He was determined. He was going to save his family, and get revenge on whatever this talisman was, undoing whatever it had done to them. If only he could get a picture. Louie was trying his hardest to bring his arms up and get a picture of the message written on the back of Scrooge’s neck, but the combination of trembling and the wind ensured he couldn’t get the entire message in frame. No matter how hard he tried, it was like his arms were locked in place. He couldn’t get the entirety of Huey’s writing, so he decided it was better than nothing, and snapped the picture. It captured most of the writing, but missed two critical key words, only showing “DON’T LOOK UP TALISMAN”. With his arms stuck in place, squeezed against his uncle, he did his best to forward the picture to everyone else’s phone. Maybe now, if they all received it, and time really did reset, they could figure it out together, since he wasn’t sure if he would remember or not. The thought that really scared Louie was simply the unknown number of times they had looped through this same day without even knowing. Maybe it was more than a day, maybe a month, maybe a year of their lives was replaying and they had no idea. Either way, Louie couldn’t bear to think about it any longer. As he began to shrink down to an infinitesimal size, he noticed his terrified heartbeat had been drowning out all the sounds he was hearing, but if he concentrated on them  _ hard _ , he could make them out. It was Scrooge. 

 

“...love you all, spending time with you made the for best experiences of my life. Louie!” That was the last thing he heard, and he couldn't have picked a better send-off.  



	4. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trip to the talisman!

Saturday Morning, 7 AM; Donald Duck’s cell phone was going off. Due to years of working multiple jobs and taking care of his nephews, his circadian rhythms were very much disrupted. Despite not needing a job anymore, he kept busy doing other things, but still had some trouble falling asleep most nights. It struck him as a small failure, but for his boys, he’d do anything. He sat up, yawned, stretched, and grabbed his phone. He was rather surprised to see the notification on the screen read his nephew’s name. 

 

_ “Louie sent me a picture? This early?”  _ Donald thought to himself, as he read the notification over again in disbelief. His nephew could barely be relied on to wake up before noon most days, and he was up bright and early at 7 AM, sending his uncle pictures? This, in and of itself, wasn’t too out of the ordinary. Louie’s eternal embarrassment via Donald prompted him to periodically send Donald up-to-date memes to help him relate to him and his brothers more, and his uncle truly appreciated the gesture, even if he mostly didn’t understand the jokes Louie seemed to think were so funny. This was not anything of the sort, however, as Donald opened the picture to see four blurry words, written in black pen on what appeared to be someone’s feathers, the white plumage stained by the dark ink. 

 

_ “Don’t...look...up...talisman?”  _ Donald read to himself, more confused than he usually is with what Louie sends him.  _ “Is that really what kids think is funny nowadays? Man, I really am old!”  _

 

Disregarding the message, but planning to ask Louie about it when he saw him, he quickly got dressed into his usual sailor getup, grabbed the large duffel bag filled with spelunking gear his uncle had him purchase the night prior, and headed out of his houseboat, and into the mansion. 

 

He entered Scrooge’s office, and saw something he had never seen before: Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby in Scrooge’s office without Scrooge. 

 

“Uncle Donald! Have you seen Uncle Scrooge? He’s supposed to be here by now!” Dewey asked, impatient and ready to start the day. He wanted a reward for waking up so early. 

 

“I heard water running on the way here, he’s probably taking a shower.” Donald replied as he patted Dewey on the head, and approached Louie, who looked up as he came close.

 

“Louie, you’ve really got me with  _ this _ one. I can’t understand it at all!” Donald chuckled as he started to pull his phone out and ask for an explanation.

 

“What one, the beatboxing Tetris guy?” Louie asked.

 

“What? No! The talisman one.” Donald said, confused, as he opened up his messages with Louie and showed him what he had sent. “The one you sent to me as soon as you woke up.”

 

“Uncle Donald, I didn’t send you anything. I’ve never seen that picture before!” Louie responded defensively. Now Donald was  _ really _ confused. Was this part of the joke too? Had the culture of his boys gotten away from him that much? 

 

“Well, it says you sent it to me at 7 AM. It says ‘don’t look up talisman’. Is this an album cover?” Donald inquired. 

 

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen it before!” Louie said, getting a bit fed up with his uncle’s accusations. 

 

“Wait, yeah, Louie, you sent me this too!” Webby chimed in, showing the same image on her phone. She hated ganging up on him like this, but it wasn’t right to keep it from Donald. Huey and Dewey also checked their phones and, sure enough, they all received texts from Louie, right at 7 AM, containing only that same picture. Before the argument could get any more heated, however, Scrooge finally walked into the office, feathers still dripping. 

 

“Sorry I’m late, I had to take a shower, I think the ceiling in my bedroom is leaking. Anyway, gather ‘round, kids!” Scrooge said, cup of tea in hand, as his nephew, grandnephews, and grandniece all convened in his office, sat around his desk, which had a large map and a few photographs on it. “Today, we’re headed to Florida in search of the Lorentz talisman, which is said to be hidden somewhere in the aptly-named Mystery Cave.” Scrooge said, putting a dramatic air of enigma into his voice. 

 

“Why is it-”

 

“Wait, uncle, did you just say ‘talisman’?” Donald interrupted Huey, as the word had instantly sparked more intrigue of the picture. Maybe Scrooge would know what was going on, after all, he’d been around long enough to see pretty much everything. 

 

“Aye, I did. Is there a problem?” Scrooge replied, confused.

 

“Louie sent all of us a picture of the words ‘don’t look up talisman’ written in pen on someone’s feathers this morning at exactly 7 AM, and he insists he didn’t do it! If you check your phone, you’ll probably have gotten it too!” Donald said as he showed the uncle the picture. 

 

“I can confirm, Louie was asleep at 7 AM, and I had to wake him up!” Huey added, knowing he exhibited the signs of beginning to mother-hen the same way his uncle has. It was then that Donald had an idea. 

 

“Louie, when does  _ your  _ phone say you sent it?” Donald asked as Scrooge continued to inspect the photo. Sure, they all received it at the same time, but the ‘send’ timestamp on Louie’s phone would show whether or not he really sent it at 7 AM. With the phones in such close proximity, there’s almost no chance sending a message at 7 AM would take longer than one minute to be received by the recipient phones. As Louie scrolled through his phone, Donald suddenly saw his face get pale, and his eyes widen. Donald quickly went over to his nephew, kneeling down and putting his hands on his shoulders.

 

“Louie? Are you okay?” Donald said worriedly. He can’t remember the last time he saw him this  _ scared _ . 

 

“It s-says...7:22 AM, today’s date” Louie stuttered out, as tears began to well in his eyes. 

 

“It what?!” Scrooge yelled, and instantly came over to inspect the phone. Sure enough, the phone said it had sent those pictures at 7:22 AM on that Saturday, which instantly sent shivers down Scrooge’s spine. Glancing at the top of the phone, the current time was only 7:19 AM. “...How is this possible?” Scrooge marveled, as Louie began full-on sobbing, prompting both Donald and Scrooge to embrace him together.

 

“Shh...it’s okay Louie, it’s not your fault, we don’t know what’s happening.” Donald said softly, trying to console him, as Scrooge stood up and addressed the other kids.

 

“You three, I want you close to us. We don’t know what’s going to happen when the clock hits 7:22.” Scrooge warned, as Huey, Dewey, and Webby ran over to him and buried their faces in his coat. A scary situation indeed, but he figured the best thing to do was to wait out the time, and see what happens. 

 

“I’m sure about it now, kids, there’s something  _ wrong _ with that talisman, but I don’t know what. We have to destroy it, I believe. If there’s something going on here, it will end with that talisman.” Scrooge gravely declared. He proceeded to kneel down to fully embrace the kids who were attached to his coat, giving them comfort in an incredibly stressful scenario. Everyone was so wrapped up in each others’ affection and trying to keep a cool head that they hadn’t even realized the time had passed. It was 7:25 before Scrooge looked at his watch.

 

“Th-the time passed! Is everyone alright?!” Scrooge stuttered with excitement. No one looked hurt, and everyone was still present in the room. Louie, who was nearly asleep in his uncle’s arms, stood up groggily. With every niece and nephew accounted for, determination flooded Scrooge’s heart. “Listen up, everyone, change of plans. We’re going to this cave, and we’re destroying this accursed device if it’s the last thing we do. Sounds good?” 

 

“How do you know this is dangerous at all? What if his phone just glitched?” Donald tried to argue, but Scrooge wouldn’t have any of it.

 

“Donald, my boy, if it runs the risk of hurting my family, it has  _ got _ to go! Come on, everyone!” Scrooge replied firmly as he started out the door, beckoning the rest of them to follow.

 

_ “I hope he’s right, and this doesn’t get us into more trouble…” _ Donald thought to himself as he carried the equipment to the plane behind the rest of his family. 

 


	5. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Solving Mysteries!

During the flight, Scrooge spent most of his time analyzing the picture, asking everyone what they thought of it. He had first asked Huey, since it was in his handwriting.

 

“Lad, you’re  _ sure _ you can’t remember writing this  _ anywhere _ ? Not a single instance?” Scrooge questioned. He had to make sure they were involved in some sort of temporal trap, otherwise going to the cave might be a bad idea. 

 

“I’m positive, Uncle Scrooge, but that is my handwriting for sure, even if it is a little wobbly.” Huey confirmed.

 

“Can you do something for me?” Scrooge asked as he procured a piece of blank printer paper. “Try to orient yourself in a position where you write on this piece of paper to the same degree of wobbliness that you did in this one.” 

 

“Ok!” Huey said, eager to begin a new task. Scrooge then approached Louie, since the pictures were sent from his phone. 

 

“Louie, I don’t want you to think I’m accusing you of anything, but the picture came from your phone. Do you know what it could mean?” Scrooge asked, sitting down next to him and putting his arm around his small nephew. He suspected the poor duckling blamed himself for the tumultuous events of the morning. 

 

“The only thing I can think of is that Huey didn’t want us to look up the word ‘talisman’ on the internet. I don’t know what else it could mean.” Louie responded, sniffling due to having been crying most of the morning. Scrooge’s heart practically ripped in two, and he rubbed Louie’s shoulder to try to comfort him. As Louie researched the term on Google, Scrooge looked at the picture, trying to decipher another meaning from it. He had a hunch it was a little more literal than his nephew was interpreting it, and he noticed ‘talisman’ was on a different line than the rest of the text in the image, and the picture itself had been taken at a bizarre angle. 

 

“My boy, I have a feeling there’s more to this message than what we’re seeing.” Scrooge said as he directed Louie’s attention to the picture. “See how ‘talisman’ is below ‘don’t look up’? Looks to me like it might have been cut off. I just can’t think for the life of me what the rest might say.” Scrooge continued, certain it had something to do with the cave they were heading to. He felt it deep within his belly; these instructions would be crucial when they got to the cave, he just had no idea how. Implementation details remained a mystery. For the rest of the journey, Scrooge continued rubbing Louie’s shoulder, hugging him close, and generally showering him in affection; God knows he needed it; he only knew things were going to get worse before they improved.

 

After the plane landed, they stood together outside the mouth of the cave once again, unbeknownst to them. 

 

“Alright, everyone. Who’s ready to solve this mystery!?” Scrooge said as he rallied his family. Determined affirmations from his family were his reply, making his heart swell. He was incredibly grateful to have kin such as this. They formed a line, with Donald at the front, then Huey, Dewey, Webby, and Louie, with Scrooge bringing up the rear, but before they entered the cave, Scrooge had a reminder.

 

“Look, I’m not sure what this warning means exactly, but because of its strange nature, I think we should heed it. Under no circumstances should  _ any _ of us raise our heads more than is necessary to see right in front of you. Is that clear?” Scrooge said, and got only serious nods in response. Exactly what he was looking for. “Grand, let’s go!” he announced, and the group got moving.

 

“I’d prefer not to waste any time in here, so can we hurry straight to the treasure?” Donald yelled back to his uncle. He was  _ not _ keen on being possibly doomed to repeat the same adventure for eternity, understandably. 

 

“I want to finish this as soon as you do, Donald, but we still have to be careful! We don’t know what’s in here.” Scrooge replied cautiously as they proceeded down the cave’s single tunnel. Everyone was on edge as the only sound audible was the echo of their footsteps throughout the tunnel. Huey, Dewey, and Webby were all sticking fairly close to Donald, while Louie was in the back, still clinging to Scrooge. He couldn’t help but feel like this whole ordeal was his fault...

 

“Uncle Scrooge, what do we do about this?” Donald abruptly said, pointing up to a fork in the tunnel system. 

 

“If the talisman’s trap is temporal, I’d wager it’s the only trap in this cave. I don’t really think it matters which way we go...how about you decide, Louie?” Scrooge asked to the shaking duckling clinging to his coat.

 

“T-the right one.” Louie nearly whispered. 

 

“The right one, Donald. Let’s go!” Scrooge confidently declared, but noticing his nephew’s apprehension upon making eye contact with him. “Would you like me to lead the way, Donald?” he said softly, approaching his nephew with Louie still stuck to him. 

 

“...If you don’t mind.” Donald replied, his trembling now apparent in his voice. The two then switched places, and Scrooge slowly let the charge down the path.

 

“Be careful everyone, we do  _ not _ know what’s in here.” Scrooge said cautiously, as the family’s walking speed decreased by 25%. With everyone walking with their heads pointed downward, completely silent, the tension in the air was palpable. The family were absorbed in their own thoughts when a familiar voice shattered the silence.

 

“You betcha, Mister McDee!” Launchpad’s voice loudly echoed through the tunnel. 

 

“What the blazes?! I never said anything to Launchpad!” Scrooge exclaimed, stopping everyone to briefly inspect the walkie talkie in his pocket. He couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary.

 

“Launchpad? Are you there?” he called into the receiver, to no response. Great, their one connection to the outside world had effectively been cut off. Scrooge’s heart began to race in his chest. What is  _ happening _ to them? To him and his family? “Okay, new plan. We destroy this blasted object and get out of here, all in favor, say ‘aye’!” Scrooge yelled back to his family, slightly panicking. He couldn’t be happier when he heard a resounding series of ‘aye’’s from his kin. 

 

After only another thirty seconds of walking, they reached another archway at the end of the path, leading to a single circular room, with a pedestal in the middle, and what appeared to be a solid gold disc with a large gem in the middle, appearing to Scrooge to be a pearl, attached to a black string. There wasn’t much fancy presentation, it was simply sitting on the pedestal, which looked to be made out of imitation marble. Scrooge could feel it in his gut: this was it. This was the talisman. 

 

“Is everyone looking down?” Scrooge asked. He had to make sure. He was not letting this accursed disc torment him and his family anymore. When his family responded affirmatively, they slowly entered the chamber and approached the disc. 

 

“Wait, what’s that?” Louie asked, pointing to a corner of the room. The family pointed their lights at the corner of the room the best they could, revealing the objects to be Huey’s hat and Junior Woodchuck Guidebook. 

 

“Huey, lad, did you lose your hat?” Scrooge asked, glancing back.

 

“No! It’s on my head right now, so is the Guidebook!” Huey responded nervously. 

 

“Something is  _ definitely _ wrong here, but I don’t know what! All I know is, we need to destroy this disc, Now!” Scrooge yelled, as the family scooted closer to the pedestal in the center of the chamber. They all gathered around it, huddled close together as Scrooge picked up the disc with both hands. 

 

“Consider your trap conquered, you infernal talisman!” Scrooge roared as he snapped the disc in two, causing the gem in the middle to fall to the floor and shatter on impact. 

 

A sharp metallic sound reverberated throughout the cave quickly, and every headlamp the family went out simultaneously. 

 


	6. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escape?

“Uncle Scrooge!” Louie cried as he started sobbing in fear, gripping onto his uncle’s coat even tighter than before. 

 

“It’s okay, lad, the lights just went out. Let me see if it’ll turn back on.” Scrooge said as he used his free hand to fiddle with the light mounted to his helmet. Miraculously, his light turned on as soon as he pressed the button twice, as did the rest of his family’s when they tried the same thing. Scrooge looked up, however, and saw that they were no longer in the chamber with the pedestal, but they were at the dead end of a dark path that extended in only one direction.

 

“H-How did we get here?!” Donald stuttered as he kept his head angled to the floor, his trembling apparent in the movement of his headlamp. 

 

“I don’t know, let’s just keep moving! There’s got to be a way out somewhere!” Scrooge yelled, and moved to lead at the front of the pack, with Louie remaining stuck to his coat, not that Scrooge personally minded. Still unsure if they were in the clear, the family soldiered on, everyone’s head diligently angled down, to make sure whatever was above them didn’t attack. Scrooge’s mind was racing. How did this happen? Where did they go when their lights went out? Did the lights go out at all, if they worked as soon as they were retried, he couldn't say. Nothing about this scenario made sense to him. He was just hoping they’d get out soon enough. 

 

“Jeez, you guys  _ sure _ were in there a while.” 

 

A familiar voice once again brought the family out of their concentration; Launchpad. As they positioned their eyes upward, the family realized they were but a few steps away from the mouth of the cave where they entered. The sky, despite having entered the cave recently, was indicative of the late afternoon, vibrant pinks and oranges tinting fluffy clouds, the humidity of their arrival having given way to a pleasant warm breeze. Scrooge realized at this point he hadn’t checked his watch since they arrived, he glanced down at it and was shocked to read a time of 6:43 PM. How long  _ had _ they been inside? It only felt like a half an hour to him, and he had been so caught up in the mystery of the disc, as well as making sure Louie didn’t become a sobbing heap on the ground, that he hadn’t even been concerned with time. 

 

“Launchpad! What day is it?!” Dewey cried as he ran into Launchpad’s open arms, Webby close behind. 

 

“Uh….Saturday? Why?” Launchpad replied, more confused than he usually was, causing Dewey and Webby to cheer into his chest, as the rest of the family seemed to heave a collective sigh of relief. He eagerly embraced the two children, who started to cry in his arms. They weren’t sure they’d been more happy to see him in their entire lives. Huey and Donald simply stood by the mouth of the cave together, staring into the late afternoon sky, breathing in the warm air calmly, and trying to to relax from the ordeal they’ve been through. Scrooge, still locked together with Louie, called out to Launchpad.

 

“Start up the plane, lad! We’re out of here!” he commanded. Launchpad started to carry Webby and Dewey into the Sunchaser, as the rest of the family piled in behind them. It felt good to be certain of something for once in the past, even if they didn’t know the last time they were truly free. They were able to move forward together, having conquered another obstacle; Scrooge was beginning to feel the combination of him and his kin was unstoppable, no matter how dangerous a mindset that was, and while he didn’t want to act recklessly due to hubris in the future, he knew he had ample grounds to add fuel to the adventurous fire in the kids. He was thinking too far ahead of himself for now, though, as they had to make it home. Not that the flight was particularly treacherous, or even took that long, but it gave everyone’s mind and body time to rest. Scrooge thought he would be similarly afforded this opportunity for only a few seconds; as he boarded the plane, he realized Louie still wouldn’t let go to his coat until they were both seated together, Louie in Scrooge’s arms. It was then that the duckling spoke for the first time since they had destroyed the disc inside the cave. 

 

“...What happened to us?” he said, looking into Scrooge’s eyes with a look containing many emotions. He needed to know the answer, even if it might hurt him, and Scrooge could see that desire within. He was scared of what his uncle would say, but he was even more scared of never knowing. 

 

“To be straight with you, lad, I really don’t know.” Scrooge said with a sigh as he began running his fingers through the feathers on Louie’s head. “All I can say for absolutely certain is that whatever happened is finished. I’m grateful we only lost about eight hours…” Scrooge continued as shivers wracked his body. He wouldn’t dare finish that thought out loud,  **he** could barely take it, let alone the child currently dependent on him for comfort. 

 

“B-but what was with the disc? The picture on my phone? Not looking up? The lights going out? I’m just so confused, my head hurts.” Louie stuttered, dryly sobbing as he spoke, Scrooge assumed from having cried all the tears his little body contained earlier. Scrooge was at a bit of a loss, as he pretty much had to guess the nature of what they had encountered. However, due to the sheer amount of experience dealing with various villains in his adventuring career, Scrooge felt like he had an idea.

 

“Louie...I’ll give you my best guess as to what happened. I think whoever left the treasure there had cursed it, such that those who discovered its power were doomed to suffer it forever.” Scrooge started, squeezing Louie a little tighter as he did so. He needed the boy to know that he was there for him, and that all this was over. “Forced to live the same day over and over...The cave is so simple and so free of hazards that the chances of someone getting hurt inside is low, meaning the chances they’ll wake up with an injury they don’t remember is low. So they keep coming back and make the same mistakes, they just don’t know any better.” Scrooge said. He wondered how many people had gone missing inside that cave, slowly growing older while constantly reliving the same fateful day, without even knowing what they’re missing. There was no way he could bring that up now though, Louie would have an emotional breakdown all over again.

 

“But if we got out of it, they could too...right?” Louie asked as he looked up at his uncle.

 

“I suppose, but we got out of it in a special way, I think.” Scrooge responded.

 

“What do you mean?” 

 

“I mean I’ve never been prouder of you than I am now, Louie.” Scrooge said with a reassuring smile. “You and the rest of this family. This was potentially one of the darkest situations I’ve ever faced, and you all handled it perfectly. Without your quick thinking, to take a picture of the message, we may still be stuck chasing that blasted disc!” he continued; words truer than anything he’d ever said. 

 

“Really?” Louie asked hopefully as he looked up at his uncle with his eyes wide. “I actually contributed to an adventure for once?”

 

“Aye, my boy, you did! I can’t say for certain, but I have a feeling your text message was the key we needed to figure this whole mess out!” Scrooge exclaimed. He had a hunch the rest of Huey’s message revealed the secret of the talisman, and Louie either intentionally or unintentionally cut that part out, saving everyone from a disastrous scenario in which the secret of the talisman would perpetually persist on their phones, not aware they need to get rid of it to avoid knowing the talisman’s power, without knowing what the talisman’s power was. “I know you got scared, but trust me, we were all scared. You, your siblings, and your Uncle Donald are among the bravest people I know, and I’m so proud of all of you.” Scrooge spoke, as he leaned down and planted a soft kiss on Louie’s forehead. “Get some sleep lad, we’ve been through a lot.” he instructed, prompting Louie to nod and close his eyes, cuddling closer to Scrooge, who felt a sense of nostalgia. Donald used to do similar things as a child, sleeping in Scrooge’s arms, and he would simply watch his nephew sleep peacefully; it put his heart at ease. The way his chest would rise and fall slowly, his body completely relaxed in slumber, gave Scrooge a similarly calming feeling. He was about to doze off himself, when Huey suddenly approached him.

 

“Uncle Scrooge! I can’t find anything about this in the Guidebook, and it usually has  _ everything _ !” Huey said, flipping through its many pages for emphasis. “Should I write my own entry?”

 

“I think that’s a fine idea! I think I know why there isn’t one already though.” Scrooge replied, coming to a grave realization. “We might be the first people to have escaped, lad. No one’s written about it because everyone who knows about it is still trapped.” he continued, shuddering a bit at the thought that himself and his family could have suffered the same fate. 

 

“We need to tell people, as many as possible! Now that we escaped we can keep everyone else safe!” Huey said enthusiastically, his altruistic spirit warming Scrooge’s heart. 

 

“Now, hold on, let’s think. If the general public hears about this, people will flock to this cave, and the same thing will happen to them, and I don’t want to be responsible for that.” Scrooge argued, as Huey’s expression dampened somewhat. The burning curiosity sparked across the world about a time-manipulating talisman located in a warm region would surely cause hundreds, if not thousands more to get lost in the loop, and they would have started the day they entered the loop excited to find it. Waking up every day excited to find the talisman, until they either break the curse, or die of old age, Scrooge presumed. 

 

“Tell you what, you write it down for our family in the Guidebook, and I’ll handle the rest.” Scrooge proposed as he tousled Huey’s hair. He knew his nephew loved creating his own entries; he had done so for about as long as he had kept the Guidebook under his head. However, he knew that he had to spread information about the secret of the cave selectively. He didn’t want the likes of Magica catching wind of the cave, possibly understanding and harnessing its power...God help the entire world if that happened. Only people Scrooge trusted were to know to stay away, as in the case of the Lorentz talisman, ignorance really was bliss. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, this was a bit ambitious but it was an idea I had kicking around for some time and wanted to try out. I'm going to be running through each part in the near future and adding content/making small edits here and there, but the core story won't really change.


End file.
